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According to The Fact Site, during the average lifetime, a person spends 5 years waiting in line. 6 months of that is waiting at traffic lights. I don’t know how accurate this number is, but I’m sure you’ll agree, you spend a lot of time in line. 
Maybe you can identify with this story. I’m on my way home from work. It’s going to be a busy night. I have to get some laundry done or I won’t be able to go to work tomorrow. I don’t think I can call in sick just because I don’t have clean pants. I need to call my mother to check in, and if I don’t write the next podcast episode tonight, I’m not going to be able to go away for the weekend like I planned. And, of course, I still have to pack. But first, I have to stop at the store for some groceries so I can make dinner.
I rush around the store, gathering what I need, then I get to the checkout. Only two of the five checkouts are open and both have lineups. Why can’t this store staff the checkouts! I’m third in line and my impatience grows with every minute I stand there. I have things to do. Finally, the woman right ahead of me is paying up. But no, she’s decided to pay with exact change. She just emptied about 150 coins into her hand and is slowly sorting through to find the right ones. By this point, I’m shifting from foot to foot and I’m so anxious I’m about ready to swipe my debit card and pay for her order so I can get out of there.
When the cashier greets me, I growl back a hello. It’s not her fault, but I’m still angry. When I’m finally through the checkout, I stomp to my car, now firmly set up to be in a bad mood all evening.
Ever had a day like that? 
Let’s look at this from a mindful point of view. To wait is to delay action until a particular time or until something else happens. But, there’s a difference between delaying a specific action such as paying for groceries, and delaying life altogether. While waiting for the checkout clerk to be free, I put my whole life on hold. I completely tuned out of the present moment, and instead focused my whole attention on the negative impact of being delayed. Totally mindless, as if the minutes of my life spent in line were a waste. Well, I guess I did waste them. Worse yet, the more I focused on the future, the more impatient I got, and the more impatient I got, the worse I felt.
Waiting is inevitable, but it doesn’t have to mean putting everything on hold. Apply mindfulness and you’re no longer waiting your time. You’re living every moment. When you reach the front of the line and the clerk says, “Sorry for the wait,” you can say, “Oh, I wasn’t waiting.” 
How do you apply mindfulness while waiting? You focus on experiencing the minutes you’re living. You simply tune in to what’s happening in the present moment - and there is a lot to tune in to. You might notice your breath as you would during meditation, relaxing into its rhythm, noticing its depth, and length, and temperature. You might tune in to the sensations in your body. The feeling of your feet planted on the ground, your hands resting on the shopping cart, the amount of tension in your muscles, the sensations of clothes against skin. 
You can also attend to what’s going on in the environment, the sounds, sights and smells all around you. The trick is to notice what’s happening without judging it. You can hear the child behind you having a temper tantrum and just notice the sounds without judging the mother’s parenting skills or being annoyed at the child. You can see the woman ahead of you pull out her change purse and begin to count coins without reacting to her behaviour. 
Of course, some of our reactions are habitual and pop up very quickly. To be mindful is to watch for those reactions,